MILWAUKEE, WI, July 7, 2014 -- A partnership has been formed among The Water Council, the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the innovation Exchange, and inno360 to rapidly expand the city of Milwaukee's global presence in water innovation and leadership. By harnessing the power of the most advanced collaborative innovation technologies today, they will together dramatically increase and improve public-private sector water-related collaborative research.
The Water Collaborative Innovation Platform is a web-based search, innovation management and analytics tool that will enable global water industry and academic researchers to conduct advanced mining of water research information. It merges the knowledge economy with the innovation economy by providing an interface for academics, industry, investors, and manufacturers. The platform will access data from the largest landscape of resources and greatly increase the speed of information transfer -- from weeks to hours -- leading to increased research productivity.
"The Water Collaborative Innovation Platform supercharges any web search engine with advanced search algorithms, content categorization and visualization technologies to put Water Council members at a significant advantage when seeking global solutions and global leaders," said Dean Amhaus, president & CEO of The Water Council. "The water challenges that the world is facing are diverse, and addressing these challenges is a daunting task. We believe that organizations such as The Water Council, enabled through this Platform, can pull the best minds from around the world in diverse disciplines to successfully address them."
The Platform will be managed by The Water Council and powered by inno360, which is utilized by over 20 of the world's largest and most innovative global companies to address their most significant innovation challenges and opportunities. Incorporating the best practices of its founders and augmented by its initial collaborators -- Procter & Gamble (P&G), General Mills and the U.S. Air Force -- inno360's innovation management technology will enable The Water Council's members to rapidly expand their reach and collaborative research with leading public and private organizations, foundations and academics around the globe. The Platform will be the first inno360 innovation exchange to access Elsevier's Research Intelligence platform of extensive water-related content and unique analytics.
"The Water Collaborative Innovation Platform will provide our researchers with a unique tool that will enable them to obtain vital research and connect with the most knowledgeable people and organizations in the world in a fraction of time," said David EJ Garman, dean of School of Freshwater Sciences, UW-Milwaukee, and past president and former chairman of the International Water Association. "Not only will we be able to get information, but the Platform will encourage Milwaukee researchers, both in academia and industry, to get our knowledge and information out across the world."
Michael J Turillo Jr., chairman and cofounder of inno360, added, "Participating within the platform's ecosystem will provide the Council's members and the School's faculty and graduate students with the advantage of accessing billions of pieces of relevant content for many years into the future." In particular, Turillo pointed to the unparalleled water-related content and analytics of Elsevier as well as the opportunity to connect and collaborate with tens of thousands of subject matter experts globally.
See also:
"Water Council announces Batch II winners of BREW Accelerator"
"WI opens first-of-its-kind water business, research facility addressing world water challenges"
About The Water Council
Created by leaders in both business and education, The Water Council is convening the region’s existing water companies and research clusters, developing education programs to train talent, and building partnerships that cut across all sectors and geographic boundaries. The Water Council believes it can advance Milwaukee’s global position by becoming a magnet that attracts creative talent, innovative ideas and is recognized as a World Water Hub for research, education and economic development. For more information, visit www.thewatercouncil.com.
About the School of Freshwater Sciences
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences is the first graduate school in the United States dedicated solely to the study of freshwater. Established in 2009, SFS is located in Milwaukee, Wis., and expands a tradition of freshwater studies at UWM that began in 1966 with the Center for Great Lakes Studies and continued as the Great Lakes WATER Institute starting in 1973. The School's research and education programs are integrated across four major areas: freshwater system dynamics; human and ecosystem health; freshwater technology; and freshwater economics, policy, and management. For more information, visit www4.uwm.edu/freshwater/.
About inno360
inno360's Enterprise Innovation Management solution is currently deployed in a cloud-based SaaS environment to many of the world's largest companies. Innovation drives continuous relevance and connection, and inno360 drives innovation to markets, products and business models that ensures a sustainable future. inno360 enables its clients to more effectively manage and expand their own innovation ecosystems enhanced with its connections to relevant global content, advanced analytics and networks of innovators, researchers, trusted suppliers and partners. For more information, visit www.inno-360.com.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make ground-breaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions -- among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence, and ClinicalKey -- and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. For more information, visit www.elsevier.com/about/at-a-glance.
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